Ravenholm through Gordon's eyes
by ChiefLink
Summary: Ravenholm. Perhaps the most frightening level in Half-Life 2. Read now as Gordon's venture through the hellish town is retold through his mind.


_**Ravenholm**__** (Half-Life 2 fan fiction by **__**ChiefLink**___

Gordon Freeman clutched the ladder in front of him and climbed quickly, leaving behind the dangers of the Black Mesa East. He had been enjoying a fun time with Alyx and had befriended her protector, DOG, when suddenly, scanners came in force, followed closely by a Hunter-chopper. The three of them had to race back into the nearby entrance to the old facility. Then the power went out and Eli's warning was cut off as he said what seemed to Gordon as "Ravenholm." Alyx had apparently decided not to heed the warning, and sent Gordon to the tunnel to the abandoned mining town. Now, Gordon was near the top of the ladder and sighed as he climbed. Shortly, he reached the top and pulled himself up, taking a moment's rest before continuing. He found a doorway and went through, and what assaulted his eyes and nose was nauseating, yet familiar. The smell of blood and pus floated around him, and he saw a tree with a pair of legs hanging from it. Behind it was a wooden pallet, with two explosive barrels next to it. In front of him lay a beaten brown sign that said Ravenholm. Everything looked decimated, especially with night closing in. Gordon pulled out his modified MP7 SMG and held it firmly, as if for comfort. He stepped forward and continued to survey the area. He looked left and saw a small alcove. He walked to it and activated his flashlight. He frowned at the burned body and walked away quickly. The image burned in his mind, as so many had before.

He stepped away from the body and focused his attention on the bottom half of a human body hanging from the tree. He walked to it and inspected the damage. The pants were bloodstained and the spine was severed just above the pelvis. The legs didn't seem deformed in any way, and Gordon believed they were from an unfortunate human. But the Combine didn't do these kinds of things, and the area was empty of Combine influence. Then Gordon saw the headcrab canister nearby and changed his mind. Zombies, he thought angrily. He leveled his SMG and began to walk towards a building with wooden planks in its two doorways. Suddenly, he saw movement off to his left. He aimed his weapon at the zombie beginning to stand about 15 feet away, next to the porch of the building. His chest was torn open and what was left of his organs was encased in two huge pus sacs on either side of the tear. Blood stained every inch of the clothing the zombie wore, and his ribs were now eaten away into grotesque spikes of the previously protective bones. The zombie gave a muffled roar at the scent of living flesh and shuffled toward the scientist. Gordon gave a quick apologetic thought towards what was once a living being and pulled the trigger of his gun. The dual barrels on the business end of the SMG spewed the contents of the 45-round clip held in the gun's handle. The zombie began to shudder as the bullets entered and left his body in a matter of milliseconds.

Then the headcrab detached from its host as the damage factor from the human became too great to sustain any longer. The Xen beast leaped off the shoulders of the dead zombie, screaming with anger, and opening its maw to accept Gordon's head. But Gordon, with the help of his suit, ducked and stepped to the side, away from the incapacitating poisons contained in a headcrab. He emptied the final 9 rounds in his SMG into the small body of the doomed headcrab. The headcrab squealed and died with resounding gurgle. Gordon replaced the empty clip and sighed at the mauled creature. He turned away, towards the barred doorways. He placed the SMG back at his hip and retrieved his newly acquired Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator. Despite his MIT upbringing, Gorgon preferred to use the more amusing moniker of Gravity Gun. He hefted the tool and pulled the main trigger, knocking each plank off the wall and out of the way with a massive pulse from the amazing device. Inside, he saw several explosive tanks of pure oxygen. He was glad that he had thought to not use a projectile weapon.

Then he looked straight into the room and nearly gasped. A dead zombie torso lay on top of a large and sharp circular saw blade. Below that was a pair of legs like the ones hanging in the tree. Gordon compared the two by eye and concluded they were both from zombies. But who had done these things? Gordon dropped the thought and walked into the room All around were the oxygen tanks, as well as a couple scattered paint cans. Also lying about liberally were more of the saw blades. Gordon continued to wonder if he was not the only human, and if that someone had a gravity gun, too. It was unlikely, but a possibility nonetheless.

Gordon saw a small doorway into another room, the way blocked by a table with more explosive tanks on top, along with yet another saw blade. This had been a mining community, had it not? Why would they have needed so many circular saw blades? He looked into the doorway and was met with another gruesome scene. Human and Xen blood mixed in pools around corpses of zombies on the wall or strewn about the floor, and some paper was scattered about uselessly. Gordon set his jaw and picked up the table in front of him, moving it aside with ease. Almost on cue, a headcrab zombie shuffled quickly through a doorway in room filled with death, tasting life in the air nearby. Gordon panicked and knew he didn't have time to pull a weapon out. Suddenly, two corpses that had been lying on the wall began to move, feeling their comrade's hunger. Freeman turned around and once again saw the blade separating torso from legs. He pulled the second trigger on the gravity gun and pulled the blade from the wall. The torso was reunited with its lower half with a light thud. Moments later, another body was sliced in two, the utter pain surprising the headcrab and killing it instantly.

The other two zombies did not falter, instead going around their old comrade. Gordon whipped around again and came back with an oxygen tank in the grav-gun's grip. He backpedaled from the room and waited for the zombies to come around the corner in search of their prey. As they did, he noticed the barrels again. The large, faded warning about the instability of the fluids contained within did not deter Gordon. He dropped the oxygen tank and grabbed one of the barrels. He stepped far away from the door, aimed carefully, and launched the fuel-filled barrel through the door. Both zombies died when the barrel landed directly in front of them and exploded from sparks created as the metal ruptured and rubbed against itself. Two oxygen canisters also exploded as shrapnel ripped through the metal shrouding the also-flammable pure oxygen. Then the fuel from the barrel coated the other tanks and the metal around the oxygen began heating dangerously. Among them was the tank Gordon had neglected, which was feet from the other explosive barrel. Gordon grunted angrily at his forgetfulness and raced away behind a building for cover.

Once the roaring was over with, Gordon came out from behind the building, the gravity gun leveled in case anything else might be ready to explode. The room Gordon had been in was now mostly demolished, the roof having caved in and the way between the room of death and the oxygen tank room now widened exponentially. He went through the wreckage quickly and was grateful to find the passage the now halved zombie had ventured through. Gordon walked into the narrow passage and saw some stairs leading up to another room, with some boxes near the door. Then he heard the growl of an awakened headcrab. Gordon did not have time to react properly, barely managing to put his arm in the way and give the headcrab HEV suit to chew on. The headcrab bounced off Gordon's arm and ran into the wall left of him. Gordon backed up to the opposite wall and pulled the main trigger of the gravity gun, forgetting what he was holding.

The pulse of gravitational distortion struck the headcrab powerfully, beating it into the wall it was trapped against. Gordon, surprised by this, hesitated, but took another strike at the creature. The headcrab squealed in pain at the second blast, now attempting to limp away on a single leg. Gordon pulled the trigger a third time and the headcrab slammed into the wall again, delivering the final blow. As it's gurgle faded away, Gordon walked past it to see what was next. Four zombies, angered by the sound of the dying headcrab, shuffled towards Gordon, muttering in almost intelligible gibberish. Gordon also saw three more explosive barrels near them. Before he could pull one towards him, a zombie whacked the barrel with one of its deformed arms and sent it flying at Gordon. Gordon ducked behind the boxes and the barrel ran into his cover. Gordon stood up and grabbed the barrel with his gravity gun. He knew he would have mere milliseconds to leap out of the possible explosion radius, and might risk him even more of his precious suit energy, not to mention damaging his vital bodily health.

He launched the barrel, then dived back into the narrow passageway, accidentally stepping on the deceased headcrab and slipping forward, back into the death room. The damage was done by then. The boxes were now shattered forms of their previous cube-like shapes, and the zombies were mostly scattered body parts, along with the previous victims. This section of the wooden building seemed to have held up better than the one before, but was now unstable. Gordon hurried past the damaged part and found another narrow passage. He thought before stepping into it, though, activating the suit-mounted flashlight and flooding the passage with heavenly light. Seeing the hall to be empty, Gordon stepped through to the dim side at the other end, turning off the flashlight as he peered around the corner.

Terminate: Chapter One

Reason: Author brain-dead from attempting to emulate a 27 year old MIT Physicist.

I expect reviews, considering this is my first submission. Gordon demands input, and crowbars.

Chapter Two will come after another thorough playing through of Ravenholm.

Thank you.


End file.
